Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Dice-K's Red Sox Debut

SUGGESTED INTRO: It's not just Boston that's cheering as the Red Sox enter the World Series. Japanese baseball fans around the world have been watching their favorite son, pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, all year as he began his major league career in the United States. Hundreds of Japanese reporters have followed his every move from his first day in spring training onward. These reporters have transformed the press corps everywhere the Red Sox play. But for fans of Japanese baseball, it's a bittersweet moment, and it's a familiar feeling to fans of the old Negro Leagues in the United States. KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross was there when Dice-K, as he's being called, threw out his first major league pitch in April against the Kansas City Royals.

[Long version ends with baseball music that fades out]
[Short version ends with translator for sports commentator Hideki Kuriyama]

SUGGESTED OUTRO: KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross reported this story on Daisuke Matsuzaka's major league pitching debut in April against the Royals in Kansas City, Missouri.